# Is Scalia exhibiting the disinhibition of dementia? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 4, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179 "2015-07-04T01:10:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/1 "2015-07-04T01:10:55Z")
Although Scalia has always taken the most conservative side of every issue, he at least maintained a facade of collegiality in his opinions and dissents. Well, on the SSM decision he became downright abusive of his fellow justices. One symptom of senile dementia is this sort of disinhibition. What do dopers think. Especially ones with experience of people with dementia (which I lack, fortunately). ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/2 "2015-07-04T01:34:43Z")
When my great-grandmother had dementia she thought that there were people in the room who were not and conversed with them, believed that people were stealing things she’d misplaced, thought that her neighbors were living in her garage, and that there were aliens in the swimming pool. So… no. Being a crotchety old man is not the same thing as being senile. ---
**Author:** ![Construct](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Construct](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Construct)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/3 "2015-07-04T01:38:34Z")
Once again, people who don’t read Scalia’s actual writing and get their news from Jon Stweart and other bastions of leftism make absurd claims. If only this board would call out factually incorrect claims even when they support the reader’s ideological viewpoint. In short, you are incorrect and have been presumably deceived by your progressive news sources. Scalia’s jurisprudence displays a clear sign of intellect, and his abrasive, humorous, and accessible style of writing is unchanged from previous decisions (such as his dissent in _PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin_.) ---
**Author:** ![Construct](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@Construct](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Construct)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/4 "2015-07-04T02:05:29Z")
As an addendum, it is certainly possible that Scalia is senile or insane and his opinions are being ghostwritten by a conspiracy of his clerks who are predicting and continuing his jurisprudence. Similar things have happened before, in the case of Woodrow Wilson, and justices generally don’t write the majority of their opinions anyway. But Scalia is also noted for displaying a sharp tongue in court, something that would be very hard to fake, and consequently he is arguably the least likely of any justice to be suffering from the effects of old age. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/5 "2015-07-04T02:48:58Z")
Well, you seem to be suffering from Occam’s razoritis. I pray for a steady recovery. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/6 "2015-07-04T03:05:08Z")
I’m not eager to rescue Scalia from his stated beliefs like that. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/7 "2015-07-04T12:34:18Z")
It is not his opinions that I am judging by but by its distemperate nature, the disdain for his colleagues’ opinions and the ridicule. That was not characteristic of his earlier opinions. I guess the earlier posters share his view that ridicule is the way to go, but I suggest they look up “disinhibition” in the dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/8 "2015-07-04T13:07:40Z")
I have been closely reading Scalia’s decisions and questions at oral argument for over a decade. There is a perceptible shift toward openly partisan argument and increasing hostility. I don’t think it’s a dramatic break at all, but a definite shift. I would not attribute it to mental degradation. The court’s internal collegiality has unraveled a bit since _Bush v. Gore_, and the country as a whole has become increasingly partisan. He’s probably disappointed in Roberts and Kennedy, and it seems to have embittered him some. I think Scalia is just caught up in that. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/9 "2015-07-04T14:36:00Z")
From Scalia’s dissent in _Lawrence v. Texas_ back in 2003 when the Court struck down laws against sodomy: > [@](#): > > State laws against bigamy, same-sex marriage, adult incest, prostitution, masturbation, adultery, fornication, bestiality, and obscenity are likewise sustainable only in light of Bowers’ validation of laws based on moral choices. Every single one of these laws is called into question by today’s decision; the Court makes no effort to cabin the scope of its decision to exclude them from its holding. States have laws against masturbation? Scalia has always been somewhat of an old doddering lunatic when it comes to civil liberties for homosexuals. It’s not his mental health, it’s just his personality. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/10 "2015-07-04T16:06:51Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > So… no. Being a crotchety old man is not the same thing as being senile. > [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > I have been closely reading Scalia’s decisions and questions at oral argument for over a decade. There is a perceptible shift toward openly partisan argument and increasing hostility. I don’t think it’s a dramatic break at all, but a definite shift. > > I would not attribute it to mental degradation. The court’s internal collegiality has unraveled a bit since _Bush v. Gore_, and the country as a whole has become increasingly partisan. He’s probably disappointed in Roberts and Kennedy, and it seems to have embittered him some. I think Scalia is just caught up in that. Agreed. It sounds more like he’s losing his patience, not his mind. Sharp words and hyperbolic language are tools he has used before and he does so consciously. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/11 "2015-07-04T16:12:49Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > It is not his opinions that I am judging by but by its distemperate nature, the disdain for his colleagues’ opinions and the ridicule. That was not characteristic of his earlier opinions. I guess the earlier posters share his view that ridicule is the way to go, but I suggest they look up “disinhibition” in the dictionary. And I feel like you don’t understand what is meant by “disinhibition” in a description of dementia. It’s not as simple as being rude. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/12 "2015-07-04T17:02:36Z")
This is the same Scalia who said, in his dissent in 2000’s Hill vs Colorado (about laws restricting protests against abortion clinics) > [@](#): > > The Court’s confident assurance that the statute poses no special threat to First Amendment freedoms because it applies alike to “used car salesmen, animal rights activists, fundraisers, environmentalists, and missionaries,” ante, at 18, is a wonderful replication (except for its lack of sarcasm) of Anatole France’s observation that “[t]he law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges … .” And as far back in his dissent in 1987’s Edwards v Aguillard (mandating Creation Science teaching in Louisiana schools), he says: > [@](#): > > The majority finds it “astonishing” that I would cite a portion of Senator Keith’s original bill that was later deleted as evidence of the legislature’s understanding of the phrase “academic freedom.” Ante at 589, n. 8. What is astonishing is the majority’s implication that the deletion of that section deprives it of value as a clear indication of what the phrase meant – there and in the other, retained, sections of the bill. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/13 "2015-07-04T17:52:21Z")
I have long been of the opinion that for Supreme Court justices to approve rulings with which I disagree, they have to be crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_from\_CB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/278dde/32.png) [@Alex\_from\_CB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_from_CB)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/14 "2015-07-07T21:33:41Z")
Scalia is not a conservative. He’s a Republican. And he gets 2 votes. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/15 "2015-07-07T23:28:55Z")
> [@Construct](#): > > If only this board would call out factually incorrect claims even when they support the reader’s ideological viewpoint. I feel compelled to point out the absurdity of complaining that this board doesn’t call out factually incorrect claims, in the course of calling out a factually incorrect claim. The absurdity is heightened by the fact that this was the third post in the thread, and the second post was also calling the OP out for being wrong. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/16 "2015-07-08T04:48:06Z")
> [@Construct](#): > > Once again, people who don’t read Scalia’s actual writing and get their news from Jon Stweart and other bastions of leftism make absurd claims. If only this board would call out factually incorrect claims even when they support the reader’s ideological viewpoint. > > In short, you are incorrect and have been presumably deceived by your progressive news sources. Scalia’s jurisprudence displays a clear sign of intellect, and his abrasive, humorous, and accessible style of writing is unchanged from previous decisions (such as his dissent in _PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin_.) I don’t think that progressives (“bastions of leftism”) such as Stephen Colbert are too shabby in the news department. > **[Study: Stephen Colbert More Effective Than Journalists At Explaining Campaign...](https://deadline.com/2014/06/stephen-colbert-super-pac-study-738885/)** > > A new report warns just how much this country stands to lose when Stephen Colbert shutters his Comedy Central late-night show to take over for David Letterman at CBS. According to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, viewers of The Colbert Report who... > [@](#): > > “It’s the first study actually showing that Colbert is doing a better job than other news sources at teaching people about campaign financing,” crowed Bruce W. Hardy, lead author of the study and a senior researcher at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. “Consistently, we found that Colbert did better than every other news source we included in our model.” > > The published study tested The Colbert Report against CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and broadcast nightly news — as well as talk radio and newspapers — as sources of political information. The study, appropriately called Stephen Colbert’s Civics Lesson, was based on phone survey data from 1,232 adults 18 years or older who were interviewed between December 13-23, 2012. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/17 "2015-07-08T16:13:51Z")
> [@rsa](#): > > I don’t think that progressives (“bastions of leftism”) such as Stephen Colbert are too shabby in the news department. > [Stephen Colbert More Effective Than Journalists At Explaining Campaign Financing, Study Says](http://deadline.com/2014/06/stephen-colbert-super-pac-study-738885/) If you read further in your cite it says that the Daily Show which is what he mentioned is worse at educating the public than traditional news. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/18 "2015-07-08T16:26:21Z")
He’s not getting senile. He’s just doing what a lot of far-right political ideologues do when they don’t get their way: throw a temper tantrum worthy of a kindergartener, lash out at his opponents, and whine that the process isn’t fair. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/19 "2015-07-08T17:54:48Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Although Scalia has always taken the most conservative side of every issue, he at least maintained a facade of collegiality in his opinions and dissents. Well, on the SSM decision he became downright abusive of his fellow justices. One symptom of senile dementia is this sort of disinhibition. What do dopers think. Especially ones with experience of people with dementia (which I lack, fortunately). I doubt it. More likely he’s just really pissed at the decision of his fellow Supremes. Honestly, do we really need to explain every passionate feeling as a form of pathology? He disagrees strongly,\* that doesn’t make him insane or senile. - just for the record, I disagree with his disagreement, being strongly in favor of the recent decision. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-scalia-exhibiting-the-disinhibition-of-dementia/724179/20 "2015-07-08T17:58:59Z")
> [@Alex\_from\_CB](#): > > Scalia is not a conservative. He’s a Republican. And he gets 2 votes. Ha ha ha! Oh, my you’re so witty! You mean Clarence Thomas just blindly votes the way Scalia tells him to! That’s funny. No wait… you’re thinking of the lazy, inept Thurgood Marshall, the guy who sat around in his bathrobe watching TV, and asking clerks to find out how William Brennan wanted him to vote. Thomas disagrees with Scalia FAR more often that Marshall disagreed with Brennan.